Real Rover

For over 600 years Kyogen comedy has been part of the cultural fabric of Japan. It had always been an intrinsic form of entertainment for the common people until the Edo period when samurai lords decided they would make it their own, thus in a sense fossilizing its ad lib brilliance in favour of a more scripted and sanitized art. Always kept in the rather rarified domain of special families of performers its popularity has waned and many modern Japanese have never experienced its unique dynamism, its sophisticated yet hilarious word play and its multitextured stories. Tadashi Ogasawara, not from any of these traditional families, was suddenly introduced to Kyogen at the age of seventeen and has become a leading innovator and international performer as a result. In this first of a series of interviews we have the chance to hear the disciple of a National living treasure share his initial journey into this truly fascinating world. In months to come he will continue to train artists in France and has recently pe